The Three Levels of Fandoms
It’s normal for most people to spend at least sixty minutes of their day on the couch watching TV; letting the characters inhabit their life. It’s even normal to daydream about what your life would be like as that character. Sometimes you even imagine that you are that character, it’s a very normal occurrence.
When I was 15 I was obsessed with NCIS. The two main characters ruled my life. I had pictures of them everywhere. I printed out Gibbs’ Rules and was instantly giddy every time someone mentioned the word ‘Tiva’. For those unaware, this is the combination of the two main characters; Tony and Ziva. I wanted my first number plate to be ‘TIVA’ and a bumper sticker mirroring Gibbs’ Rule ‘Don’t apologise, it’s a sign of weakness’. I would watch every episode and over-analyse each scene in the hope that one day soon, the writers would make them an official couple, a term referred to as Canon. I was 15, this is what teenagers did.
It’s easier at a time when puberty tells you what to do and life seems over-complicated, to escape into another world and live vicariously through a characters’ life so your own life seems okay.
In researching fandom and the lengths that fans go to live vicariously through their favourite characters I have nutted out three distinct levels. Some are harmless and others are outright dangerous — but it’s the ‘why’ that I find interesting.
Level 1:
Personally I am at what I refer to as the first level of Fandoms. I love the characters and I love pretending that I could have that life or at least that relationship. But I have a firm sense of reality, I remember this is all fiction. No one is exactly like a particular character — a writer has sat in a room for weeks picking out the best qualities of their fantasy, writing a character for us all to enjoy, not to morph into. And for those deciding they can’t settle for anything less than their favourite character (or at least their values/looks/personality/etc) when looking for Mr Right, *ring ring*, realities calling.
Everyone does it for a different reason; I am personally a sucker for sexual tension which drives shows like NCIS and NCIS:LA (#NCISLA4EVA). My ideal night consists of sitting on the couch with a block of chocolate and my favourite NCIS:LA episode. How else did you spend your 2014 NYE? I personally love nothing more than mixing a perfectly detailed crime scene with the humour and drive that comes with the chemistry and banter of sexual tension. Like me, some viewers watch for the chemistry and the opportunity to escape into another world for an hour. I recently decided to boycott a show when I realised the two main characters never end up together. Yes, I’m THAT person. I live in hope that my #densi (Deeks and Kensi) ship will be canon in NCIS:LA, it fuels my drive each week and then when it finally happens; explosion. I’m not saying that this is what every person’s experience with television is, but it’s mine. Why do people do this? Escapism.
Level 2:
This is where fans dedicate their lives to maintaining Instagram accounts and writing fan fictions, videos and edits. I admit that I’m one of those girls who follow these accounts. Why? Because I want to take my fandom on the road so that when big moments happen I can read all about it (take your judgement eyes elsewhere thank you very much). Take for example the moment where #densi on NCIS:LA became canon. Instagram literally erupted.
Not only do fans become personally absorbed by their favourite narratives, they erupt on a meta-analytic level: owning the narrative and also contributing to it.
Most of the people that are fanatical have found their best friends and partners, some never actually meeting in real life. What brings them together is the sense of community. Being able to fangirl with other people is more entertaining then fangirling alone. Media accessibility has now transformed people. Fifty years ago people fantasised about book characters but now globalisation has brought centuries of both written and scripted literature together at the click of a button. Platforms like Instagram, and Tumblr, even YouTube are strongly known as the petrol that fuels Fandoms. Apps like Kardashian Hollywood is less a game and more an interactive story that strongly promotes the rampantly-consumerist culture where popularity comes only from buying expensive outfits, meals and mansions. It focuses heavily on celebrity status, giving those fans the chance to live like Kim Kardashian and partake in partying, dates, red carpets, even naked photoshoots. Why? Because of that sense of community.
Level 3:
Where fans take it that one step further and literally change their lives. At one end of the spectrum you have USA girl Hannah Orenstein who, at the age of 15, became infatuated with Gossip Girl — so much so that she morphed into Blair Waldorf, wearing her clothes, attending the same school, befriending similar people. Hannah said, ‘‘I didn’t just think of it as my favourite show — I used it as a model for my own life’. Some would look at this with disbelief, even laugh but the dedication that some fans have is incredible. Hannah said what drew her to the show was not the characters behaviours or personality, rather their ambition, fashion and lifestyle which has led her to internships at Seventeen, Elle and Cosmopolitan. In this sense you can then consider that the members of this level view their passion as a form of their own ‘religion’. Why? Because it gives their life meaning.
At the other end of the spectrum you have Toby Sheldon, the 33 year old man who spent $100 000 to look like Justin Bieber. After acknowledging his fear of aging and getting plastic surgery to look exactly like the 18 year old version of the star he put it down to ‘two months of misery for a lifetime of happiness’. After explaining that he doesn’t actually listen to Biebers’ music or fawn over him as a celebrity he stated he was simply attracted to his face. ‘His face is just so flawless, he’s extraordinarily beautiful and he has this baby face that I really like’.
Critics have derided fans on the grounds that they invest too much energy into media platforms, even people, whether through Tweeting or Instagramming about an episode or literally transforming their life. They are consequently marked as trivial entities,something of little or no importance, something to make a mockery of. These critics wonder why a healthy person would ‘waste’ valuable time thinking about people and events that are not real. Recently actor Tom Felton went traveling to find the most die-hard fans in his documentary ‘Tom Felton Meets the Super Fans’ and discovered why people go to the lengths they do.
Despite what the critics say we can argue that this can be a psychologically healthy and beneficial lifestyle. In the documentary Tom Felton met many fans, one who credited Harry Potter as helping her to overcome her depression. Psychologically, fiction has a way of detaching the barriers and complexities of one’s own life and in a way, saving it.
The reality of fiction is simple. We cry during the dramatic part of a movie or show, we worry about the struggles a character finds themselves in, and breathlessly await suspenseful moments to end. Yet it’s often understood that this connection to fiction is a personal one. I sob like a baby in Ice Age when the mother dies, my friend laughs. It’s personal. The emotions we experience while engaged in fictional worlds are our own and watching these programs or reading these books help us gain an insight into our own values, beliefs and feeling.
Fantasy worlds and fiction provides a vessel for processing social thoughts and emotions. It builds a platform to distill and clarify the human experience. There are distinct levels people experience this on, but none of them are wrong or over the top. This is just how people experience media.
Whether it’s escaping your world for an hour, being part of an online community united by similar interests or finding meaning in your life by becoming your idol because well; #YOLO, fans take their obsessions to different levels. But you will find (in most cases) it’s never impacted their lives negatively. Being a fan is part of the human experience. Movies, TV shows, Celebrities, they wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Fandoms and I, personally, wouldn’t have it any other way.
